Q♥T♥ HJ vs CO, preflop, 95 bb
The spot
- You: HJ
- Opponent: CO
- Your hand: Q♥T♥
- Board: preflop, no board yet
- Effective stack: 95 bb
- Pot: 6.5 bb
Villain opens and action is on hero preflop.
Which action keeps the best EV baseline?
See the answer
Best play: Call
Why
Holding QTs (Q♥T♥, a suited broadway), hero is in the HJ facing a CO open. QTs is too strong and playable to fold but not a value 3‑bet at these stacks, so flatting is correct: it realizes equity well in position-adjacent spots, flops straights and flushes, and dominates the CO opener's weaker broadways. A call keeps the CO range wide while avoiding bloating the pot with a hand that prefers to see flops.
Key idea
Suited broadways like QTs are prototypical flatting hands in position against a late-position open: strong enough to continue, too thin to 3‑bet for value at 95bb.
Common mistake
Turning QTs into a 3‑bet bluff here; it has too much raw equity and flatting value to burn as a bluff and prefers to keep the CO's dominated range in.